Over 180 times in the past year, people who arrived at the Reading Hospital emergency room for drug overdoses were referred to drug abuse treatment after they were medically stabilized, and at least some are now moving ahead with recovery.

The statistic was revealed Tuesday during a press conference in which state officials praised “warm handoff” process guidelines developed with crucial input from Berks County.Those guidelines are used to encourage substance abusers to go from the ER into treatment.The hospital has been a model for other hospitals and counties across the state in terms of helping overdose survivors, Jennifer Smith, acting state Secretary of Drug and Alcohol Programs, told the gathering at the hospital's West Reading campus.“The opioid and heroin crisis is a public health epidemic in Pennsylvania and it is getting worse,” Smith said.More than 3,500 people died of drug overdoses in the state during 2015. The figures for 2016 are expected to be significantly higher.Overdose survivors cannot be forced to enter treatment. But Smith said the period just after someone is saved from an overdose — often in the emergency room of a hospital — is a prime time for convincing reluctant drug abusers to seek help.

In fact, she said, data shows that people who have such a discussion just after an overdose are more likely to actually seek help over the next 30 days.

Dr. Rachel Levine, state physician general, described the warm handoff guidelines as a “clinical pathway” for getting help for overdose survivors.Smith said emergency room doctors from around the state convened to create a flow chart to guide doctors through the warm handoff process.Dr. Charles F. Barbera, chair of emergency medicine for Reading Health System, was instrumental, she said.Barbera described repeat overdose cases that have shown up in the Reading ER.“We have let them go because they wanted to leave, and they came back in worse shape,” he said.The Council on Chemical Abuse — a nonprofit based in Reading that is responsible for administration and management of publicly funded alcohol, tobacco, and drug services in Berks County — was heavily involved in the warm handoff process development. Executive Director George J. Vogel Jr. called the results at Reading Hospital remarkable, and noted that each statistic represented a real person.“This person has now been given a second chance,” he said of the 181 who received referrals after arriving at the hospital.Overall, he said, “There are thousands of people in Berks County who are in recovery and are thankful for the treatment that they receive.”The latest insights into an alarming aspect of the opioid crisis were discussed by Therese Sucher, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Reading Health System.Cases of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, in which babies born to drug-abusing mothers suffer symptoms just after birth, have increased dramatically.Sucher said 26 babies were diagnosed in 2015 with NAS and 40 in 2016.There already have been 13 cases in the first 61/2 weeks of 2017, she said.

Ford Turner | Reporter

Ford Turner covers special projects and investigations for the Reading Eagle.